Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. Makes New Investment in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. has acquired 12,471 shares of MetLife, Inc. valued at approximately $1,001,000, marking a new investment in the company.
• Several hedge funds increased their stakes in MetLife, with Quarry LP boosting its position by an astonishing 3,373.2% in the first quarter.
• Analysts have generally rated MetLife positively, with a consensus target price of $95.60 and most giving the stock a "Buy" rating.

Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 12,471 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,001,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MET. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 3,373.2% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 13,198 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,060,000 after buying an additional 12,818 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its stake in MetLife by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 18,279 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,468,000 after acquiring an additional 3,692 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 547,828 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $43,985,000 after acquiring an additional 19,724 shares during the period. New Vernon Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 632.6% during the 1st quarter. New Vernon Investment Management LLC now owns 29,613 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,378,000 after acquiring an additional 25,571 shares during the period. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 31.6% during the 1st quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 17,850 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,433,000 after purchasing an additional 4,290 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their target price on MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group reduced their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $95.60.

MetLife Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of MET opened at $81.41 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $89.05. The company has a market cap of $54.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.41.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.32 by ($0.30). MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.28 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife's payout ratio is presently 38.47%.

MetLife Company Profile

MetLife, Inc, a financial services company, provides insurance, annuities, employee benefits, and asset management services worldwide. It operates through six segments: Retirement and Income Solutions; Group Benefits; Asia; Latin America; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and MetLife Holdings. The company offers life, dental, group short-and long-term disability, individual disability, pet insurance, accidental death and dismemberment, vision, and accident and health coverages, as well as prepaid legal plans; administrative services-only arrangements to employers; and general and separate account, and synthetic guaranteed interest contracts, as well as private floating rate funding agreements.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.